CONNECTICUT
National Catholic Reporter
Brian Roewe | May. 27, 2014
BRIDGEPORT, CONN. For 492 days, the Bridgeport, Conn., diocese was without a bishop. The void came in May 2012 when Bishop William Lori moved 250 miles south as archbishop of Baltimore. The long interregnum created somewhat of a chasm between past and future for the area’s 400,000-plus Catholics.
On July 31, Pope Francis named Frank Caggiano, an auxiliary bishop from nearby Brooklyn, N.Y., as the fifth bishop of Bridgeport. Installed Sept. 19 — his deceased mother’s birthday — before 1,200-plus people, Caggiano spoke of the transformative power of bridges, both physical and spiritual, to bring together communities and fortify faiths.
“Bridges unite, they open opportunity, they can even transform human life,” he said in the homily.
So it was that the bishop born and bred in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge became the leader of a diocese named after such spans. In eight months, Caggiano, 55, has himself gone to work buttressing existing networks, repairing those long abandoned and constructing new connections.
“There’s always the great challenge of allowing people to see that which unites us is greater than that which divides us,” Caggiano told NCR in an April 8 interview.
Bridgeport is a relatively young diocese that presents unique dichotomies. Its borders follow those of Fairfield County, among the wealthiest areas in the country, while its center, Bridgeport, is among the nation’s poorest cities. Its sizeable immigrant population adds to the diversity Caggiano calls “the fabric of life.”
In recent years, the diocese has seen its share of scandals. Allegations of clergy sexually abusing minors have been limited, but two priests in the past seven years have gone to jail for embezzling parish funds. In January 2013, Msgr. Kevin Wallin, aka “Msgr. Meth,” was indicted for his role in a drug distribution ring, for which he laundered money through an adult store.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.